GREENFIELD - Thomas W. Merrigan, the gentleman’s gentleman who took up a career in law late in life, died Saturday at his home at the age of 86.

The father of eight, Merrigan worked variously as a writer, journalist and politician in addition to his career as a lawyer. He was elected to the Greenfield Board of Selectmen and the Franklin County Commission, and is credited by many with helping make Franklin County a Democratic bastion.

“He was responsible for forming the nucleus for the Democratic Party in Franklin County,” said state Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg, who worked with Merrigan over the years. “He broke the Republican control in the county and moved it towards the Democratic Party.”

A graduate of Deerfield Academy, Merrigan served in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1947 and came home to begin his first career as a reporter for The Recorder of Greenfield. After several terms on the Greenfield Board of Selectmen, Merrigan ran for the Franklin County Board of Commissioners in 1970, becoming the first Democrat to hold county-wide office here.

In 1976, Merrigan enrolled at the University of Massachusetts “University Without Walls.” After graduating two years later, he went on to earn a law degree at the Western New England University Law School. He was sworn in to the Massachusetts Bar in 1982 at the age of 55.

For the next three decades he practiced law in Franklin and Hampshire counties, first as a prosecutor, then as a bar advocate and finally in private practice, where he earned a reputation as a tireless advocate for his clients.

“He was a wonderful man,” said Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup, who saw Merrigan at work both as a fellow lawyer and as a judge.

Retired District Court Judge Herbert Hodos took up that theme, saying that Merrigan was ideally suited to the profession.

“He always gave it his all for his clients,” Hodos said.

But the characterization of Merrigan that came up most consistently among those who knew him was that of a gentleman.

“First and foremost, the thing anybody would say about Thomas Merrigan was what a gentleman he was,” said Hampshire County Clerk of Court Harry Jekanowski. “He was like an old gentleman doctor, except he was a lawyer.”